Tea with the Millers
by StormWolf10
Summary: In which Alec Hardy muses- or rather, grumbles- as he heads to the Millers' for dinner. Chapter 1 takes place during episode 4, Chapter 2 after episode 8. Spoilers for episode 8.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: First-ever Broadchurch fic, although I've worked on the characters a little beforehand. They're such good fun to write! Anywho, read and review…**

Bloody Miller. Bloody insistent, stubborn Miller. The last thing Alec wanted to do was go to the Millers' house for dinner. His job was to solve the murder of Danny Latimer, not sit around with Officers and their families, eating food and drinking wine. And yet she'd insisted on him coming to dinner. So now Alec Hardy was stood in the middle of the store, a bottle of wine in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other, trying to decide which would be the more appropriate to take to the meal. Alec had never been good at these sorts of things; his wife had always dealt with that. Before… But now he was on his own, being invited to dinner by his frankly annoying Detective Sergeant, and he had no choice but to comply; he'd already gotten in Miller's bad books one too many times just by refusing fish and chips. Brow furrowed, he decided it would be best just to get both, to be on the safe side. Digging out his wallet, he headed for the counter, pausing momentarily to add a bunch of flowers to the bundle too. The woman on the checkout tried to engage him in conversation, but Alec merely grunted every now and then before finally snatching up his items in a plastic bag and throwing two £20 notes on the counter.

"Keep the change," he said, already halfway to the door.

Once outside, he climbed into the car, leaving the plastic bag on the passenger seat. The drive to the Millers' house was peaceful, but that didn't stop his mind from whirring. Bloody cheerful Miller. Alec was dreading the meal. He hadn't met Miller's husband, John, or James, or Joe, or whatever his bloody name was, but he wasn't sure if he'd like him or not. That wasn't why Alec was dreading the meal, though. It was because of Miller's cheerfulness, her insistence at being called 'Ellie' rather than Miller- something Alec refused-, her buying fish and chips, her thermos flasks of tea and coffee, her _mothering_. Alec had no doubts that Miller was a capable mother, she was attentive, bubbly, but she could be stern when necessary. He was almost certain her husband would be the same. It made Alec sick to his back teeth. He could see it now; Miller and her husband being all sweet and romantic, the kind of couple that finished each other's sentences, said the anecdote to their story at the same time as one another. Alec hated those kinds of couples. When he'd first met his wife, when they'd first gotten engaged, he'd entertained the possibility of them becoming one of _those_ couples. And it had even happened, for a brief amount of time. But then had come their daughter, and their lives had been taken up with nappy changes and night time feeds and, later, the school run and sleepovers and after school clubs. Their life had… Fallen apart. They hadn't been able to get back to their young, just-married selves; they'd seemed to have lost that connection. And that was why Alec had tried to say no to tea at the Millers. They would be sat there, in their family home, laughing and joking. There would be family photos on the wall, of their boys growing up. The kids themselves would be tucked up in bed upstairs, and were probably the kind of kids that slept through the night without so much as stirring. A perfect family. A perfect family, Alec thought bitterly, that he'd never have.

He hadn't been able to come up with a way to fight off Miller's dinner invitation without revealing his past, without revealing that it would make him feel sick and alone and even more bloody miserable that his daughter was up in Glasgow, ignoring his voice messages and texts and emails. It would make him feel forgotten and inadequate in the face of Miller's perfect family, his hair slightly greasy and stubble on his jaw as he presented them with cheap wine and flowers. But then there was no more time to fret about that, he'd arrived at the house. Parking his car a little haphazardly, Alec decided to take the wine and chocolates out of the bag. He tucked the chocolates awkwardly under one arm, the wine in one hand and flowers in the other as he half-climbed, half-fell out of the car. The flowers ended up being laid on the roof of the car as he fumbled with his keys, and moments later he was at the Millers' front door. Balancing the wine, chocolates and flowers, he knocked on the door and waited. This was it, he couldn't run now. He was here to have dinner, to- dare he say it? - enjoy himself. It was then that he realised he had no idea what to talk to them about; the only common interest they had was the case, and he refused to discuss that at a meal. Bloody Miller.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So yeah… Added a second part. And it's longer! Read and review!**

Bloody Miller. Bloody life-ruining, selfish Miller. The last thing Alec wanted to do was have to sit in Ellie's front room and watch as Tom tried to appear alright, tried not to break down and cry. If Joe hadn't been so selfish, hadn't dragged poor Danny Latimer into his mid-life crisis, hadn't scared the boy, and chased him, and strangled him… Well, a lot of lives wouldn't have been ruined. But Joe had done those things, and it had been Ellie who was left to explain it to her sons, left to tell Tom that it had been his own father, who'd comforted him in the aftermath of Danny's murder, who had killed his best friend. So now Alec Hardy stood in line at the shop, bottle of wine in hand, waiting to order football stickers. Ellie had asked him round, to chat with Tom. She said he wouldn't open up to her, said she thought it was because he didn't want to upset her. But he needed to talk. And Alec would be the person he'd talk to.

Soon, the queue whittled down to just him, and Alec ordered several packets of football stickers, before pausing and looking at the little display of chocolate on the shelves in front of the counter. He grabbed a couple of small bars of chocolate too, and paid for the items.

"Keep the change," he told the teen behind the counter, grabbing the items in the plastic carrier bag and leaving the store.

Settling himself into his car, Alec dropped the carrier bag onto the passenger seat and started up the engine. He was beginning to worry, wasn't sure what Tom would ask him, how much Ellie had _told_ him, if Tom would want to talk to him at all… Did he go in there and take Tom off to a quiet area of the house and immediately begin talking to him? Or did he chat with him and Ellie first, about Saturday night TV, the football scores, comic books, whatever it was eleven year old boys liked. Alec wasn't sure, and it was too late to ask Ellie now. After a while longer of panicking, he pulled up outside the Millers'. The Millers'. Only it wasn't the Millers' house now, was it? The house had finally been dusted for prints and blood and all that sort of thing and Ellie had been allowed to take the boys home. She'd done so, reluctantly, as even though Becca had given them rooms for the lowest possible charge, it was stupid forking out for a hotel when you had a perfectly decent home. A perfectly decent home that had ghosts walking through it. Echoes of laughter over some long-forgotten joke, a shared bottle of wine, and friends. Of Tom and Fred growing up, crawling, taking their first steps… Joe had ruined everything for them. If Joe had, say, cheated on Ellie, just after Alec had arrived in Broadchurch, he wasn't sure he'd actually care. But things had changed. Situations had changed. Ellie had changed _him_. She'd refused to take any of his stubborn crap, had broken through the façade of indifference he'd built around his somewhat-malfunctioning heart since Sandbrook. They…. Well, Alec hoped Ellie wouldn't mind him saying that they were friends. And as Ellie's friend, Alec was glad that Joe would spend the rest of his days in prison, for what he'd done to the Latimers, and to Ellie and Tom and Fred. Of course, Alec knew very well that life in prison no longer meant life; give it a decade or two and Joe could be up for parole. But even so, he'd have destroyed his family, his little slice of heaven on Earth. Alec didn't understand how anyone could be so stupid; his wife, Joe, even Mark Latimer having an affair… Those people didn't realise just how good their families were, couldn't appreciate what they had, and they'd destroyed it.

Alec shook his head. Now was not the time to get bitter about what his ex-wife had done to him. Now was the time to help Ellie and Tom and Fred through this. With a deep breath, he climbed out of the car, grabbing the carrier bag as he went. He approached the door, could hear the TV muttering on the other side of the wall, it sounded cheery, over the top. Probably a kids' programme, Alec decided. He knocked on the door, just once, and a few moments later, footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. It opened, revealing a very tired-looking Ellie.

"Hey," Alec greeted awkwardly.

"Hi, Alec," Ellie responded tiredly. "Thanks for this."

She didn't seem to notice how Alec's eyebrows rose slightly at the sound of her using his first name. He'd told her before that he'd hated it, but that had been a lie, another elaborate ruse to keep people at arms' length. He decided, a little belatedly, that he liked Ellie calling him by his first name. He allowed her to usher him inside, take his suit jacket from him, and hang it up. Alec wasn't sure he liked that, he felt a little awkward stood in Ellie's hallway. Just then, Ellie's eyes flickered to the carrier bag, and Alec remembered just what he was holding.

"Brought some stuff for the boys." He explained, raising the carrier bag slightly. "Football stickers for Tom, and some little bars of chocolate for him and Fred to share. And you too, of course, if you want to."

At Ellie's blank expression, Alec began to panic.

"I mean, I just figured, Tom likes football, right? And skateboarding, but I don't think they do stickers for that… I don't know if he has the sticker book or not, but it doesn't matter, right?"

"Alec," Ellie cut in to his rant gently, a small smile on her lips, "Tom _does_ have the sticker book, but even if he didn't, it wouldn't matter. And thanks for that, you didn't have to get them anything."

Alec shrugged.

"Well, I just figured it might break the ice a bit, with Tom. Wasn't sure how to start the conversation," he admitted.

"Well, he knows why you're here," Ellie told Alec. "And he wants to talk to you, so I thought I'd just take Fred into the kitchen with me for a bit."

Alec nodded, and then remembered.

"Oh, I, uh, I bought you some wine, too," he told Ellie, handing her the carrier bag. "Thought you might like it. To drink. Or to throw at a wall, or something."

Alec smiled slightly, and Ellie blinked. She couldn't remember him making a joke before.

"Well, I might just take you up on the second one if it weren't such a waste of wine," Ellie responded after a few moments, fishing in the carrier bag for the football stickers. "Here, go give these to Tom, I'll just go put the wine and chocolate in the fridge."

And then, Ellie was gone. Alec was left awkwardly in the hallway, blinking. After a moment or two, he gathered himself and headed into the front room. Tom was sat on the sofa, while Fred was on the floor, staring up at the brightly-coloured characters on TV with infantile fascination. Alec crossed the room carefully, trying not to step on any toys. He'd forgotten what it was like, having a young child in the house, with toys everywhere. His little girl was far more interested in makeup and boys now. Finally, after what seemed like a monumental amount of time to cross such a small room, Alec was seated beside Tom.

"Hello, Tom," Alec greeted the boy.

"Hi," Tom replied quietly.

Alec took in the eleven year old. He was sat on the sofa, sock-clad feet on the seat and knees drawn up to his chest. His eyes looked red, his face pale. He'd been crying.

"I bought you these," Alec told him, handing the boy the football stickers. "Thought you could add them to your collection."

Tom nodded, and managed a weak, watery smile. Just then, Ellie appeared in the doorway, and walked over to lift Fred into her arms.

"I'll be in the kitchen, ok?" she told them, although her eyes were on Tom at all times. "Give me a shout if you need anything."

Tom nodded, as did Alec. And then, they were alone. Tom was looking at Alec, his expression a mixture of anxiety, sadness and uncertainty.

"I take it your Mum's explained about your Dad, yeah? That he's going to prison?" Alec asked.

Tom nodded, and a tear slid down his cheek. Alec swallowed.

"And you know that you can come find me, or call me, whenever you want to chat, if you don't want to talk to your Mum?"

Again, Tom nodded. There was a pause, and then Alec was looking around the room.

"Where's your mobile?"

Frowning in confusion, Tom silently pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it over. He watched as Alec typed something in, and then handed it back.

"That's my mobile number, ok?" Alec told the boy gently. "Like I said, just call if you want to chat. Could be about your Dad, about school, about anything, yeah?"

Tom nodded, staring down at the new contact in his phone. _Alec_.

"Now," Alec continued, "is there anything you'd like to ask me? Or we can do something else, we don't have to talk, and not about your Dad."

Tom thought for a few moments, and then his whole face brightened and he darted towards the TV, leaving a confused Alec on the sofa.

**~StormWolf10~**

Almost an hour after she'd left Alec and Tom in the front room, Ellie decided to check on them. Fred was getting grumpy, it was almost dinner time, and she couldn't tell if the silence was a good or bad sign about Alec's talk with her son. She made her way out of the kitchen and along to the front room, expecting to find Tom still curled up on the sofa and Alec perched awkwardly beside him. The sight that met her eyes, however, was far from it. Both Alec and Tom were holding an Xbox controller, staring intently at the TV. Alec had his glasses on, his tie was off, the top button of his shirt undone and shirtsleeves rolled up. It was the most relaxed Ellie had ever seen him. But it was Tom who surprised her most. Her little boy, who'd spent the past few days going from sobbing in her arms to worryingly silent and then back again, was sat on the sofa, grinning as he manipulated the controls.

"And just what are you two doing?" Ellie asked, bemused.

"We're playing Fifa!" Tom explained happily. "Alec's _rubbish_!"

"I am _not_!" Alec grumbled, although there was a soft smile on his face.

Ellie merely arched an eyebrow.

"And did you talk?" she asked, directing the question at Alec.

Alec's smile faltered.

"We… Sort of," he conceded after a few moments. "I gave Tom my mobile number though, he can phone me whenever he likes."

Before Ellie could speak again, Tom cut in quickly.

"Can Alec stay for tea, Mum?"

Alec looked about to protest, but in that moment, Tom looked so happy, happier than he'd been in a long time, and he didn't have the heart to say no. So he looked to Ellie, who shrugged.

"If Alec wants to," she responded calmly.

Tom paused the game, turning to look expectantly at Alec.

"Yeah, go on then," Alec said after a few moments' pause."

**~StormWolf10~**

Hours later, with both the boys in bed and the bottle of wine Alec had bought almost empty, Ellie glanced over at the man on the sofa beside her.

"I have a favour to ask."

Alec, whose eyes had been shut, cracked open one eye and surveyed her wearily.

"Oh yes?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ellie nodded. Now or never, she decided. "I was wondering if you wanted to make this a regular thing? I mean, I know you're thinking of leaving Broadchurch, and I don't know whether we're staying and just moving house, or moving away from Broadchurch altogether… But… While you're here. While we're both here, could we do this each week?"

Alec didn't reply immediately, and Ellie hastened to continue.

"I mean, you don't have to bring wine every week, although that would be nice… But you don't. And you don't have to buy the boys stuff every week either, just… Just come to dinner and play video games with Tom. Please?"

There was another pause.

"I'll think about it," Alec responded gruffly.

Ellie nodded, even as her heart sank.

**~StormWolf10~**

There was a knock on the door. Ellie cursed.

"Tom, can you get that?" she yelled down the stairs.

She'd been in from work less that fifteen minutes, had had to pick Tom up from football and Fred up from childcare, and now someone was interrupting their evening. Just great. There were the sound of voices downstairs, and Ellie hurried to get changed out of her work clothes. She heard the front door shut, and breathed a sigh of relief. Whoever it was didn't stay for long, then. Dressed in an old jumper and comfy jeans, Ellie then headed downstairs.

"And Olly bought me the latest Fifa game, but I've not played it yet."

Ellie frowned as Tom's voice drifted out of the living room. Who was he talking to. She hurried down the last of the steps and headed straight for the front room. And there, sat on her sofa, shirtsleeves rolled up, tie and jacket missing and Fred bouncing on his knee, was Alec Hardy.

"Thought I'd take you up on that offer of yours," Alec told her, tone serious although his slight smile gave him away. "Now, what's for tea?"


End file.
